Imitation wood plank

ABSTRACT

An imitation wood plank comprises an elongate planar member having a top surface, a bottom surface and opposing sides. The top surface includes a wood grain pattern. The bottom surface includes a central portion and side margins disposed on opposing sides of the central portion. An adhesive material for adhering the elongate member to a sub-floor is applied to the central portion and extends substantially the entire length of the elongate member. The side margins are free of adhesive and provide a pathway for moisture to migrate from the sub-floor through gaps between adjacent imitation wood planks.

RELATED APPLICATION

The application claims the benefit of U.S. Provisional PatentApplication 61/658,614 filed Jun. 12, 2012, which is incorporated hereinby reference.

TECHNICAL FIELD

The present invention relates generally to flooring and, moreparticularly, to an imitation wood plank.

BACKGROUND

Most home owners prefer natural flooring materials such as wood, stone,brick, marble and granite. However, such traditional flooring materialstend to be expensive to produce and install.

Laminate flooring provides an attractive alternative to natural flooringmaterials. Laminate flooring is manufactured to look like naturalproducts, such as wood flooring or natural stone, yet is made of asynthetic material. Laminate flooring is typically less expensive thanwood or natural stone, and is relatively easy for a homeowner to installon his own.

There are several problems with conventional laminate flooring products.First, although laminate flooring is designed to imitate naturalflooring materials, most laminate flooring is not realistic inappearance and texture. Thus, most people can readily distinguishlaminate flooring products from natural products.

Another problem relates to installation of laminate flooring over aconcrete subfloor. Concrete is a porous material that can allow moistureto migrate into the laminate flooring, which can cause adhesives toloosen, flooring to warp, and mold and mildew to develop. In the case ofa concrete sub-floor, a moisture barrier is typically installed betweenthe sub-floor and the laminate flooring to prevent moisture in theconcrete from migrating.

SUMMARY

The present invention comprises an imitation wood plank that isrealistic in appearance and texture, and can be applied directly over asub-floor without a moisture barrier. The imitation wood plank comprisesan elongate planar member having a top surface, a bottom surface andopposing sides. The top surface includes a wood grain pattern. Thebottom surface includes a central portion and side margins disposed onopposing sides of the central portion. An adhesive material for adheringthe elongate member to a sub-floor is applied to the central portion andextends substantially the entire length of the elongate member. The sidemargins are free of adhesive and provide a pathway for moisture tomigrate from the sub-floor through gaps between adjacent imitation woodplanks.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 is a perspective view of a floor system comprising imitation woodplanks.

FIG. 2 is a perspective view illustrating a top surface of an imitationwood plank.

FIG. 3 is a perspective view illustrating a bottom surface of animitation wood plank.

FIG. 4 illustrates air circulation between the floor system and thesubfloor.

FIG. 5 illustrates a mold for forming the imitation wood planks.

FIG. 6 illustrates a mold bed for creating a mold to form the imitationwood planks.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

The present invention comprises an imitation wood plank floor system 10as shown in FIG. 1. The floor system 10 comprises a plurality of withimitation wood planks 12 molded from a thermoset polyester.

As shown in FIGS. 2 and 3, each plank 12 comprises a generally planarmember having a top surface 14, a bottom surface 16, sides 18, and ends20. The top and bottom surfaces 14, 16 are generally parallel. The sides18 of the plank 12 are perpendicular to the top and bottom surface 14,16 and parallel to one another. The ends 20 of the plank 12 are squareto the sides 18 and perpendicular to the top and bottom surfaces 14, 16.The top surface 14 of the plank 12 has a grain pattern 22 that imitatesa natural wood grain. The bottom surface 16 of the plank 12 preferablyhas a smooth finish.

A pressure sensitive adhesive (PSA) 24 is applied to the bottom surface30 of the plank as best seen in FIG. 3. A peel-away cover 26 protectsthe PSA 24 prior to installation. The PSA 24 is applied to a centerportion 30 of the bottom surface 16 and extends longitudinally forsubstantially the entire length of the plank 12. The adhesive ispreferably resistant to alkali compounds. The side margins 32 on bottomsurface 16 are free of adhesive. By allowing the side margins 32 toremain un-adhered, a pathway is provided to allow moisture migrating upthrough the subfloor to escape through gaps between adjacent planks. Asshown in FIG. 4, the weight of persons walking on the floor system 10creates air circulation in the side margins 32 and joints between theplanks 12, thus allowing normal aspiration of the subfloor.

Referring to FIG. 5, the planks 12 can be molded in an open face siliconrubber mold 70 using polyester or other thermoset plastic material. Theplank 12 is formed by pouring the polyester or other thermoset plasticmaterial into the mold 70, allowing the polyester or thermoset plasticmaterial to set to create the plank 12, and removing the plank 12 fromthe mold 70. If necessary, the board can be planed or sanded to ensurethat the boards are uniform in size.

To obtain the natural grain pattern 22, a natural board 60 can be usedas a plug to create the silicon rubber mold 70. To create the mold 70, anatural board 60 can be placed in a mold bed 50. The mold bed 50comprises a base 52 and an enclosed sidewall structure 54 mounted on thetop surface of the base 52. The board 60 is placed in the mold bed 50 sothat the side with the desired grain pattern faces up. Silicon rubber isthen poured over the natural board 60 to create a mold 70. When therubber is set, the mold 70 is removed from the mold bed 50 and thenatural board 60 is removed from the mold cavity.

One advantage of the present invention is that the floor system is“breathable” so that moisture beneath the floor system 10 is provided apathway to escape. This feature allows the floor system 10 to be applieddirectly over the subfloor without the need for a moisture barrier. Inthe case of concrete subfloors, the moisture may have highconcentrations of alkali compounds that could possibly attack anddegrade adhesives. The breathable floor system 10 of the presentinvention allows the moisture to escape and thus prevents degradation ofthe adhesives securing the floor system 10 to the subfloor.

Of course, those skilled in the art will appreciate that the presentinvention is not limited to the above contexts or examples, and willrecognize additional features and advantages upon reading the followingdetailed description and upon viewing the accompanying drawings

What is claimed is:
 1. An imitation wood plank comprising: an elongateplanar member formed of a thermoplastic material and having a topsurface, a bottom surface, and opposing sides, wherein the bottomsurface includes a central portion and two side margins disposed onopposing sides of the central portion; a wood grain pattern formed onthe top surface of the planar member; a pressure sensitive adhesiveapplied to a central portion of bottom surface of the planar member andextending substantially the entire length of the planar member; whereinthe side margins on the bottom surface on either side of the centralportion are free of adhesive.
 2. The imitation wood plank of claim 1wherein the adhesive comprises an alkali-resistant adhesive.
 3. A floorsystem comprising: a sub-floor; a plurality of imitation wood planksdisposed over the sub-floor, each wood plank comprising: an elongateplanar member formed of a thermoplastic material and having a topsurface, a bottom surface, and opposing sides, wherein the bottomsurface includes a central portion and two side margins disposed onopposing sides of the central portion; a wood grain pattern formed onthe top surface of the planar member; a pressure sensitive adhesiveapplied to a central portion of bottom surface of the planar member andextending substantially the entire length of the planar member foradhering the wood planks to the sub-floor; wherein the side margins onthe bottom surface on either side of the central portion are free ofadhesive to allow moisture to migrate from the sub-floor through gapsbetween adjacent wood planks.
 4. The floor system of claim 3 wherein theadhesive comprises an alkali-resistant adhesive.